Around 600 CE, the Tang Dynasty took over leadership of China. This was China's golden age. People were happy and the wars were over.

The Tang Dynasty is famous for it's achievements in literature, dancing, music and art.

They spread Chinese Culture, kept trading with Europe, and behaved as a defensive wall against Islamic Expansions.

Empress Wu Hou ruled the Tang Dynasty openly, becoming one of the only females to achieve such a difficult task in Chinese history.

The Tang Dynasty's golden age of art and poetry influenced rebellions in the Dynasty that weakened the imperial government.

At the end of the Tang Dynasty, gunpowder was invented and used in the military.

The Tang also popularized tea

The Song Dynasty (907-1276CE)

Like the Tang Dynasty, the Song Dynasty was a time of wonderful invention and art. This was the Chinese Renaissance.

A lot of inventions were made during the Song Dynasty that this period in history is sometimes referred to as China's "Age of Invention".

The end of the Northern Song Dynasty was marked by the attack of the Liao Empire who lived in the northeast areas of China.

After about two decades of warfare, the Song Empire was taken over by the Mongols.

Yuan Dynasty or Mongol Dynasty (1276-1368 CE)

Genghis Khan and his sons set the foundation for the Yuan Dynasty.

The Mongols were terrifying battle tacticians and very popular for their cavalry tactics.

The Pax Mongolica was a age of peace that followed the Mongol conquests. At that time, Mongols were at the height of their powers.

The Yuan Dynasty Re-established trade with Europe with the help of Marco Polo, causing many empires, including the Yuan Dynasty, to give a great economic boost even today.

Ming Dynasty(1368–1644 CE)

Many Chinese did not like the Mongols and hated them. Finally, the Mongols were overthrown from China by a peasant uprising. The peasant was led by a man named Zhu. He took control of China and named himself Emperor Hongwu. This was the beginning of the Ming Dynasty.

This was a period of enormous building activities; The Great Wall of China. The Great Wall was arebuilt during this dynasty. (Fun Fact: Folding Fans became popular during this dynasty. They were brought over from Japan and Korea.)

Chinese Influence on Japan

Chinese influence on Japan goes very deep, with contact between them going all the way back to 200 AD. Buddhism that originated in China spread throughout the world, including Japan. The writing system, the political structure and more of what Japan established was based off of China's style. Confucian based government and society that China created was adopted by Japan.